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Sunday, February 28
A Culver-Roberts Matchup for Iowa Governor
by
paul deaton
on Sun 28 Feb 2010 05:00 AM CST
A Culver-Roberts Match-up for Iowa Governor
 by Paul Deaton
"Culver has
a strong statewide organization, significant financial resources and a
Democratic voter registration advantage. These things matter in
politics."
Back in July 2009, I indicated that of the Republican candidates for governor in the June primary, the one to watch is Rod Roberts of Carroll. He is "all in," having announced he will not seek re-election in the Iowa House so he can run for governor. While June is still distant in political terms and others lead him in the polls in comparisons with Governor Chet Culver; Roberts shouldn’t be counted out yet. Of the three remaining Republicans, Roberts seems to this writer to have the best chances of defeating incumbent Governor Chet Culver, if nominated by his party.
While Culver has been beleaguered by poor showings in polls, turnover in his campaign staff, noise from progressive radio talk show host Ed Fallon and a primary challenge from former Des Moines school board member John Narcisse, it seems inevitable that Chet Culver will receive his party’s nomination and win the 2010 election. He has a strong statewide organization, significant financial resources and a Democratic voter registration advantage. These things matter in politics. In a Culver-Branstad or Culver-Vander Plaats match-up, these basic elements of the Culver campaign would come into play and, despite the early polls and corporate media coverage would likely result in a second term for the incumbent governor.
A Culver-Roberts match-up might be a different story. Roberts has the credentials to attract the conservative Republican base. At the same time, his pragmatic approach to issues, like the Smoke-Free Iowa Act, indicates Roberts’ ability to appeal to moderates. Pulling together the Republican base and a substantial proportion of moderate Republicans and independents is the only path to a Republican governor in 2011. Roberts is best positioned to do this as Vander Plaats seems too extreme and Branstad offers nothing new.
It seems doubtful that Rod Roberts will make it through the June primary because of the strength of his two primary opponents. The current Republican activism may have led House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen to say, “the trend lines clearly indicate this should be a strong year for Republicans” on Iowa Press last Friday. At the same time, while the fall campaign will be challenging, Culver will likely prevail in the gubernatorial race because of the strength of his organization against a likely match-up with a former governor.
That former governor has little to offer except a “back to the future” visage behind which are popular talking points articulated by a corporate media intent on gaining viewership or selling newspapers. This election will be about real people and real issues, and not about the chimera of a right wing resurgence being popularized by politicians and other folks who are out of touch with what is important to the majority of Iowans.
Governor Culver, get your game on and fast, because if Roberts is out, the stars are aligning in your favor and the 2010 election will be yours to lose.
~Paul Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County. Check
out his blog, Big Grove Garden.
E-mail Paul Deaton
Thursday, February 4
Research 2000 Poll: What Republicans Believe/Iowa
by
Trish Nelson
on Thu 04 Feb 2010 05:00 AM CST
Research 2000 Poll: What Republicans Believe
 "Today's poll about Republicans was like a Margaret Mead study; except she studied more advanced tribes." [found on OTOOLEFAN's Twitter feed]
This week, a Research 2000 poll commissioned by Dailykos, revealed that the GOP of today, the party of "no," is scarily stuck in the past. 2,003 self-identified Republicans (actually, quite a large sample size for a political poll), were randomly selected by the last four phone digits, and interviewed over the phone. Click
here to read the entire poll and methodology.
Here is some of what the polling found:
A full sixty-eight percent of Republicans polled said 'yes' or were 'not sure' to the question, "Should Barack Obama be impeached or not?" (39% 'yes'/29% 'not sure').
Fifty-eight percent (more than half!) said 'no' (36%) or 'not sure' (22%) to the question, "Do you
believe Barack Obama was born in the United States or not?
Almost a quarter of respondents said they believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win (24%). Thirty-three percent were not sure (God bless this subset of independent-minded Republicans...).
Only fourteen percent of Republicans, according to this poll, believe that Barack Obama is more qualified to be President than Sarah Palin (!) In a way, this seems the most preposterous of all the results. GOP, as long as we've got your attention, here are the facts:
Sarah Palin's resume: a Bachelor's degree earned via five different schools (not that there's anything wrong with that); mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, (a town about the size of Marshalltown); and an incomplete, ethics-violation-riddled term as Governor of Alaska. Oh yes, a book with five (long) chapters that her own PAC spent $60,000 buying copies of, and that are being handed back out to donors in exchange for more PAC contributions.
President Obama's resume: U.S. Senator 2005-2008 (resigned to take job as President); served three terms in the Illinois senate; graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), and was editor and first black president of Harvard Law Review; a Constitutional Law professor at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years; a civil rights attorney; community organizer; also authored two books, that actually take time to read and are interesting.
To give the GOP some credit, more than a third, thirty-six percent, answered 'no' to the question, "Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates white people?" But of course that leaves sixty-four percent who answered 'yes' (31%) or 'not sure' (33%).
And we'll give credit where credit is due, fifty-eight percent of Republicans do NOT want their state to secede from the union, leaving forty-two percent who either do want to secede (23%) or are not sure (19%).
Republicans apparently are very solid in their belief that Congress should not make it easier for workers to form and join labor unions. Check out this number: sixty-eight percent said 'no.' Another twenty-five percent 'not sure.'
The GOP respondents overwhelmingly believe same sex couples should NOT be allowed to marry (77% no/7% yes/16% not sure).
They (coincidence?) equally believe public school students should be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world. (77% yes/15% no/8% not sure)
Thirty-one percent of the respondents said contraceptives should be outlawed.
Thirty-four percent believe the birth control pill is abortion.
Seventy-six percent believe abortion to be murder (statistically speaking, even if these last two groups did not overlap at all, which would be highly unlikely, that leaves at least 10% who believe that taking birth control pills is murder).
Now that we know what Republicans believe, one naturally moves to the next head-scratching quandary.
Q: Where do they get these ideas?
This one's easy.
A: (1) Fox News; and (2) Talk Radio
We should not be surprised by the results of this poll. How could it be otherwise? Fox News has been propagandizing for - we don't know, but it seems like a really, really long time, at least since the Clinton years. And Limbaugh goes back at least that far. When Ronald Reagan got rid of the Fairness Doctrine, it allowed right-wing media to flourish, well financed, and unrestrained by the guidelines of journalistic balance and public interest.
Fact: Ninety-one percent of talk radio today is conservative - not because the public wants it this way, but because of the orchestrated effort and infusion of money by the conservative right. BFIA has posted on this issue until we are blue in the face. Please check out our posts on this topic, then consider making a commitment to doing something locally about media reform. We promise you there is an AM station in your listening area that airs exclusively conservative talk with no progressive programming for balance. See BFIA ACTION ALERT below the links.
Click on these links to access BFIA Archived posts:
'Shock Jocks on the Radio Airwaves in Iowa'
Glenn Beck Sells Snake Oil to Unsuspecting Iowans
A Step in the Correct Direction for Talk Radio in Iowa
Current State of Talk Radio in Iowa a Crime
Are Iowans Being Brainwashed by Fox News?
Support the Fallon Forum, Iowa's Progressive Talk Radio
Congress, FCC Abandon Citizens: Appeal to Rupert Murdoch Our Only Hope
Future of Conservative Talk Radio
Extreme Right Watch in Iowa: WHO Radio's Steve Deace and Friends on Rachel Maddow
Conservative Talk Radio - How Much is Too Much?
Obama's Radio Address: Why Can't We Get It Here?
Iowa Congressmen Support Local Community Radio Act (HR1147)
Most Outrageous Available on Iowa Stations
Study: Localism Key to Correcting Conservative Talk Radio Imbalance
Iowa Civility Gains Foothold Against Right Wing 'Shock Jocks'
Our Second Priority: Media Reform
Help Take Back the Media
Media Reform Activist Toolkit
Media Reform Conference Sessions Now Online
Iowa Media Reform Group v Sinclair Broadcasting
Keith Olbermann Calls For Media Reform In Special Comment
Media Reform to be National Priority
Bog Krause Talks to BFIA about Health Care, Media Reform, and RAGBRAI
A Whole 'Nother Approach to Media Reform
Obama's Radio Address: Why Can't We Get it Here?
Iowan on FCC Reform Panel to Advise Obama Transition Team
...and on and on
**BFIA ACTION ALERT**
If you live in any of these ten broadcast areas, please consider calling or e-mailing your local station. Or stop by the station and tell them you would like to examine their public inspection file. Tell them you want BALANCED programming that serves the whole community, NOT exclusively right wing talk. Remind them the broadcast airwaves are publicly owned. If they do not listen, click here to file a complaint with the FCC.
Burlington Talk Radio KCPS
KCPS 1150
205 S. Gear Avenue
W. Burlington, Iowa 52655
Phone (319) 754-6698
E-mail kcps@aol.com
Glenn Beck, 9-11a; Limbaugh 11a-2p;Dennis Miller 2-5p; O'reilly 5-6p; Michael Savage 7-9p;
Cedar Rapids WMT 600
600 Old Marion Road
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Phone: 319-365-0600
Toll free: 800-332-5401
*600 on your US Cellular Phone
johnlaton@clearchannel.com
Limbaugh 1p-4p; Jim Bohannon 9p-12a
KXIC Iowa City 800 AM
(319) 354-9500 /866-609-TALK (8-2-5-5)/news@kxic.com
Hannity, Dennis Miller,
WOC Quad Cities
1420 AM
563-344-7025
news@woc1420.com
Limbaugh 11a-2p; Hannity 6-9p;Dennis Miller 9-12a;
Des Moines WHO Radio
1040 AM
2141 Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50312
Phone: 515-245-8900
vanharden@clearchannel.com, Program Director
joelmccrea@clearchannel.com, General Manager
Jan Mickelson,9a-11:30;Limbaugh 1-4p;Steve Deace 4-7p;Michael Medved 9-10p;Michael Reagan 10p-1a; Jim Bohannon 4-5a.
Dubuque WDBQ(no website)
1490 AM
5490 Saratoga Road Dubuque
Phone: (563) 557-1040
Limbaugh 11a-2p
Estherville KILR
1070 AM (no website)
Phone: 712-362-2644
Limbaugh 11a-2p
Mason City KGLO
AM 1300
341 S Yorktown Pike
Mason City, IA 50401
(641) 423-1300
Tim Fleming, tfleming@kglo.threeeagles.com
Brian Fancher, bfancher@kglo.threeeagles.com
Limbaugh 1p-4p M-F
Sheldon KIWA (has advertiser list on website!)
1550 AM
411 9th Street
Sheldon, IA 51201
Phone: 712-324-5377
E-mail: Walt Pruiksma, Station Mgr., at walt@kiwaradio.com (good luck...there is a picture on the website of Walt with Bush)
E-mail: Wayne Barahona, Program Director, at wayne@kiwaradio.com
Limbaugh 11a-2p; Hannity 2-5p; L & H Saturdays also
Sioux City KSCJ
1360
2000 Indian Hills Dr
Sioux City, IA 51104
(712) 239-2100
sarthur@powelliowa.com
Limbaugh, 11a-2p; Hannity, O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Dennis Miller, Bohannon
Waterloo KXEL
AM 1540
514 Jefferson Street
Waterloo, IA 50701
General Manager: Tim Mathews tim@radiogroup.net
Phone: 319-234-2200 or 800-584-7024
Coverage Area: Waterloo-Cedar Falls-Cedar Rapids-Iowa City
5-6a Jim Bohannon; 8-11a Glenn Beck; 11a-2p Limbaugh; 2-5p Hannity
Monday, January 12
The Obstructed View: GOP, Bailout, Health Care, Death Penalty
by
Sam Osborne
on Mon 12 Jan 2009 05:00 AM CST
The Obstructed View
 Random thoughts from an idle mind for the beginning of 2009
by Sam Osborne
WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FURTHER DISINTEGRATE, FADE TO THIRD-PARTY STATUS, AND EVENTUALLY ON INTO OBLIVION?
If it does,the party that replaces it will likely be positioned to the right of the Democratic Party and still reflect a Hamiltonian-Federalist preference and trust in the power of an economically positioned minority over the concerns democratically expressed by the elected representatives of a common citizenry.
In the past election, a dwindling number of progressive Republicans joined with the populist sentiment within the political center and voted with Democrats and liberals. The resultant GOP debacle struck their big tent and it may now be impossible for Abe Lincoln/Teddy Roosevelt Republicans to wrest it away from a religious right that is bent on setting it back up to hold revivals to bring the nation under control of that old-time religion.
CAN YOU BANK ON IT?
Yes, the money put into the hands of skimming capitalistic bankers is gone and they refuse to say where they are stuffing it - try looking into their Swiss bank accounts. When it is time for the “loan” money to be repaid to WE THE PEOPLE, the bankers are going to also be long gone from the banks that will no longer have the bucks to pay us back.
HOW SICK IS HEALTH CARE IN THIS COUNTRY?
Sick enough that it is time to cut the money-skimming health insurance industry out of siphoning resources away from the provision of health care and refocus decisions back to doctors and their patients.
Economic royalists that have controlled the policies of the Republican Party, have done serious damage to the nation: from the economy, to the environment, to middle and working-class income earners, to energy, and to health care.
This nation spends more on providing health care than any other nation in the world and gets less in return than do nations that provide universal health care. It is past time for this nation to adopt universal health care for all of our citizens and thus improve service and reduce financing costs.
We will continue to pay more for actual health care because of medical science’s continued capacity to enable doctors to do more. Back in Civil War days, little money was spent on aircraft carriers, reconstruction, heart transplants and reconstructive surgery. However, at Gettysburg, grave registration costs exceeded expenditures for medivac helicopter retrievals - Lincoln ’s speech was too short to commemoratively note the savings.
IS THE INTENTIONAL TAKING OF ANOTHER'S LIFE A GOOD IDEA?
States and nations that do not have the death penalty have lower homicide rates than do states and nations that have the death penalty.
Some people like the idea of people being killed for some reason that they find acceptable, and if one person can have their reason for killing, so will another.
Violence breeds violence and it starts and continues with one who is willing to cast the first or last stone. Currently it is not fashionable to be stoned.~
Sam
Osborne, former editorial writer and Opinion Page Editor,
Iowa City Press-Citizen; former college professor and Business Department chair,
Ellsworth Community College; and currently out to pasture drinking too much
coffee. His commentary, The Obstructed View, will appear on these blog pages weekly, more or less.
Monday, January 5
Iowa GOP Needs (more than a ) Sound Sound Byte
by
Sam Osborne
on Mon 05 Jan 2009 05:00 AM CST
The Obstructed View
 PATE’S Sound Sound Byteby Sam Osborne
The Republican Party of Iowa Central Committee and a forum of 75 activists and officeholders from around the state have been listening to some ideas from six contenders that would like to succeed Stew Iverson as GOP state chair.
If one were to wish that the party continues its march into oblivion, best hope that they will be swayed by the absolutely neat on-message idea suggested by contender Paul Pate, a former Secretary of State and past mayor of Cedar Rapids . As Pate sees it, the debacle suffered in the last election can be attributed to nothing more than a failure in trash talk. Pate told the assembled faithful that “People are getting desensitized to it (the old Democrat tax and spend message) ... What we have to do as a party is come up with that sound byte. That's what it comes down to: What is the sound byte for '09 and 2010?"
For internal and not external consideration, let me suggest a thought based upon words spoken by the first Republican to get elected to the presidency of the United States of America , Abraham Lincoln: “We were once the party that ensured ‘that government of the people, by they people and for the people would not perish from the earth.’”
Two thirds of the American people don’t care what the Republican Party wants people to think about Democrats, or about a sound byte that might set everyone thinking nice thoughts about Republicans. People care about their lives and the good state of the country in which they can enjoy the fruits of their labors.
If Republicans cannot get past their favorite mantras and self-centered outlook, like other parties that got hung up on themselves, the GOP will fade into oblivion. It was the Grand Old Party because Lincoln insisted in government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Republicans, the nation ain’t about you. Your me-me-me conservatism has bent back around to byte you in your retreating arses.
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” ~ John Kenneth Galbraith
Sam
Osborne, former college professor and business department chair,
Ellsworth Community College; former editorial writer and opinion page editor,
Iowa City Press-Citizen; and currently out to pasture drinking too much
coffee. The Obstructed View will appear on these blog pages weekly, more or less.
Sunday, December 28
Bush and Cheney's Scandal List: 314 and Counting...
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 28 Dec 2008 05:00 AM CST
Bush and Cheney's Scandal List: 314 and Counting...
 scandalist.info
Lest we forget, it's probably a good idea to bookmark this compilation of 314 Bush scandals (including links) and save it for future reference. (The most recent scandal on the list took place in July of 2008. I would add to the list the medical 'conscience rule.')
Space limitations prevent us from posting the scandal list in its entirety, but here are the first ten, so you can take a quick glance at the dark past of the Bush years without dwelling too long on the trauma. And, don't forget to say to yourself, as you walk through the horrors of stolen elections, Gitmo, the Patriot Act, illegal wiretapping, Diebold, Enron, WMDs, Katherine Harris, free speech zones, etc., it's all over.... you never have to go back there again. Hopefully. Twenty-three days left.
Go to: Bush and Cheney's Scandal List for all 341 scandals (so far) and links.
1 - 2000 Election Fraud (FL & other states, Diebold & More)
2 - 2004Election Fraud (Documented Suppression of Minority Vote in OH & other states)
3 - Paid Armstrong Williams to Promote Education Reform Without Citing Admin Funding
4 - Cheney's Energy Task Force (Released Documents, WaPo Article & Now Food Riots As Result)
5 - Jeff Gannon Journalist Mole/Closet-Gay Playmate (NSFW)
6 - Jack Abramoff (White House Ties, Modern Day Slavery & More)
7 - Katrina Response (Bush Debriefed on Conditions, Video & Timeline)
8 - Veto Stem Cell Research (First Use of Veto in 5 ½ years)
9 - Federal Funding for Churches to Distribute Community Based Services
10-White House Rejects Most Foreign Aid for Katrina
Thursday, December 18
Blocking Obama's Health Plan Key to GOP's Survival
by
Trish Nelson
on Thu 18 Dec 2008 05:00 AM CST
Blocking Obama's Health Plan Key to GOP's Survival
 prwatch.org
PR Watch investigates and exposes how the public relations industry and
other professional propagandists manipulate public information,
perceptions and opinion on behalf of governments and special interests.by Sheldon Rampton
Michael F. Cannon, a pundit at the libertarian Cato Institute, has written a blog post that highlights what….will be one of the most important issues in play once Barack Obama assumes the U.S. presidency. "Blocking Obama's health plan," he writes, is "key to the GOP's survival."
Cannon's big fear… has been haunting conservatives in the United States for more than a decade. They worry that a universal government health plan, if it should ever come to pass, will be so wildly popular with the public that they will reward Democrats for passing it. The same fear was expressed in 1997 by Grover Norquist, the conservative activist who famously declared that his goal is to shrink government "down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
In an interview with the libertarian Reason magazine, Norquist said that he was motivated in the early 1990s to organize his conservative coalition by "sheer terror of Clinton's health-care plan…. Had the Democrats taken over health care, I think we would have become a social democracy and we could have never undone it.”
This is a point on which conservatives have good reason to worry. The public already believes, by a strong majority, in government-funded universal health care. As the Gallup polling service reported last year, "69% of the public believes it is the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage. What may be surprising is that many of the nation's small-business owners - known for their fierce independence and entrepreneurship - not only believe that the current U.S. healthcare system needs a complete overall, but also support the idea of a taxpayer-funded national health insurance program."
Conservative pundits like Cannon, in league with the private U.S. healthcare industry, have spent vast sums of money to discredit the idea of a publicly-funded healthcare system for the United States. The healthcare industry has been campaigning against what it calls "socialized medicine" since the days of Harry S. Truman.
(Click here to read the entire article)
The Center for Media and Democracy, Madison, Wisconsin, is a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization that strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism.
Thursday, December 4
Diebold Whistleblower: Karl Rove Involved in Election Rigging
by
Trish Nelson
on Thu 04 Dec 2008 05:00 AM CST
Diebold Whistleblower: Karl Rove Involved in Election Rigging
Marketwatch.com
 In an exclusive interview with Velvet Revolution ("VR"), a DC based non-profit dedicated to a clean and accountable government, a former Diebold vote machine contractor who was in charge of preparing the 2002 election between Saxby Chambliss and Max Cleland has stated that the software patches placed on the voting machines in the weeks prior to the election could have rigged the election in favor of Republican Chambliss. The contractor, Chris Hood, was ordered by the President of Diebold, Bob Urosevich, to secretly install uncertified software patches on machines in predominantly Democratic counties, according to Mr. Hood. Saxby Chambliss won a surprising victory after trailing badly in the pre-election polls. The interview with Mr. Hood, posted by Velvet Revolution ("VR"), can be seen on YouTube.
VR has been working with whistleblowers who have stated that the GOP, under the direction of Karl Rove, has been using computers to change election results. In order to protect the runoff election from such manipulations, a federal RICO lawsuit is being pursued in Ohio to take depositions from those who have been implicated in this illegal strategy. Last week, the attorneys in that case sent document holds to Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel asking that she retain all memory cards and hard drives used in the runoff, and all documents related to uncertified patches. Cliff Arnebeck, the lead attorney in that case states, "Karl Rove has made a career out of rigging elections. Electronic voting machines like those being used in Georgia are his favorite tool, so this important race cannot be watched too closely."
Complete coverage of this suit is at rovecybergate.com.
Click here to read the entire article.
Monday, October 6
McCain Alienates Iowa Republicans
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 06 Oct 2008 05:00 AM CDT
McCain Alienates Iowa Republicans
by Linda Thieman
 I mean, really -- with John McCain way behind Barack Obama in the Iowa polls, why was he wasting his time here last week? Why not just pull his minuscule Iowa staff and run, as he was forced to do with his fairly substantial staff on the ground in Michigan last week?
And is it really wise for him to alienate Iowa Republicans by announcing he is against ethanol subsidies and that he would cut them immediately as his first act as president? According to the McCain vs. Iowa website, "biofuels have added 10% to Iowa’s 2007 GDP and have supported the creation of more than 96,000 Iowa jobs throughout the state."
Something clearly is not right with the way McCain is running his own campaign. The message is off, and Iowa Republicans are worried about McCain's effect on the Iowa economy.
So, McCain wants to cut ethanol subsidies and yet stop shipping more money overseas. Said Senator Chuck Grassley, "You can't have it both ways. If you want a new industry, it is going to take some government incentives to get it started.” The oil industry started with subsidies, Grassley said, “and those subsidies are still in place.” [DTN Progressive Farmer, 9/10/08]
Iowa's Republican Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, “vehemently disagree[s] with [McCain] as far as whether that policy makes sense or not.” [Radio Iowa, 9/29/08]
Click here to learn more about "McCain vs. Iowa."
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